You're His Hero!
by Bullet in the Feels
Summary: Ever since he decided to become a firefighter, Kagami Taiga has had no regrets. He likes what he does, and not once did he run into a problem... And he expected it to stay that way... Until a little boy he almost missed enters his life. He knew things would never be the same for him again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm the new person running this account. I do not own Kuroko no Basuke, nor the cover art that inspired this fic. Please know that there will be only a few things the same from the actual show...So, yeah. I hope you enjoy!**

Summary: Ever since he decided to become a firefighter, Kagami Taiga has had no regrets. He likes what he does, and not once did he run into a problem... And he expected it to stay that way... Until a little boy he almost missed enters his life. He knew things would never be the same for him again.

* * *

Kagami Taiga was twenty-two years old, living alone, a college dropout, and a firefighter. His best friend since he was young was a man named Aomine Daiki, a police officer, who was also recently engaged to a woman named Momoi Satsuki. The three would hang out every now and then when they all had the time, but those times were quickly dwindling down to rarely to ever. That day was a good example.

Aomine and Momoi were off, visiting some friends from their middle school they somehow still kept in contact with. Kagami didn't really know these people, so he just shrugged it off, and continued on with his day.

Kagami woke up at 5:30 in the morning to his alarm. He slammed his fist down on the annoying device, groaning as he sat up. The man rubbed his eyes, pushing his blankets aside, and opening up the blinds that protected his peaceful sleep from whatever was outside that would unnerve him. The sun hadn't yet risen, though close, he could see. But knowing he didn't have time to wait to watch the sunrise, Kagami began getting ready for his day.

Shower, clothes, breakfast, teeth, and finally, shoes and gone. Kagami went through the same steps near every morning, and though he started to find it repetitive, he didn't change it up at all in fear it really would mess him up, and make him late. He wasn't expecting anything to happen that lovely spring day, as it was not likely for anything really to happen in his town where everyone knew everyone, and not a sour soul in sight. However, that's not what his afternoon time would greet him.

It was around two thirty that afternoon that someone had contacted them, frantically saying their apartment complex was on fire, and that there were still people trapped inside. The group wasted no time, and within three minutes, they were on their way, sirens blaring, demanding people get out of the way so they could do their job.

The flames were enormous. Kagami couldn't believe that this happened starting just a few moments before they received the call. He didn't have time to think about it as everyone around him, on his team, began the process of putting out the flames.

Going with his designated partner, Kagami burst through the flames in search of any people. He saw his fellow fighters dragging some people out, and he figured there would be none left to save, even though he would look anyway... But he saw a female who was being brought out. She looked as if she was about to pass out, but with the last of her strength, she reached out to the kicked down door of one of the apartments. Judging by how desperate she looked, Kagami could guess someone was still in there... Probably a child, or spouse.

Without even thinking anymore, Kagami rushed to the open apartment, and began searching. His eyes looked around everyone, unable to see anything. But then he heard something. It was quiet at first, but then he heard it again.

"Arf!"

It was a freaking dog. Kagami couldn't believe he rushed here for a stupid mutt. It was a dog! Sure, dogs were nice to have around, but they were easily replaced... A human cannot be replaced. Plus, Kagami wasn't really too fond of dogs, so he supposed it was different for someone who actually did like the stupid animals.

The redhead sighed, walking towards the sound, as much as he didn't want to. He was there, and he had just a small amount of time to waste before the floor crumbled from beneath him. However, he was glad he looked for the dog. It didn't make sense at first. Kagami hates dogs, and would prefer to stay as far away as possible from them, but he heard someone talking to what he assumed, was the dog.

"Nigou, please go." The voice was soft, calm, and was barely heard. "You'll get hurt..." It sounded like a boy.

Kagami rushed then, going as fast as he could to the sound of the boy's voice. He didn't see anyone. How could this be?! He couldn't have imagined it.. The dog, the kid... Kagami knew that both were there somewhere.

He spotted the dog first, nudging a man laying face down on the ground. But he knew that whoever that was, was not the one he heard before. As he got closer, he decided that the guy on the floor might be only unconscious, so he picked up the man, wrapping said man's arm, around his own neck.

"C'mon Dog," Kagami said then to the dog. He was there, so why not?

But said dog, would not listen. He whined, and went up to something that started moving. Kagami soon realized that it was a kid; the one he had tried finding earlier.

"Ah, crap. Chief is going to kill me if these flames don't first," the firefighter said, noticing just how the flames were slowly closing them into the room.

The tall man went to the kid, and picked him up like a sack of potatoes. If the kid resisted, Kagami couldn't tell. His main goal, after all, was to save everyone he could.

It was far too late to go out the way he came in though, so Kagami had to improvise. He ran to the back of the place, and kicked out the window. This was their only chance, and they were on the second story.

Taking in a deep breath, Kagami also grabbed the small dog, and gave it to the boy, who was reaching out for the animal. He looked out the window, and began scaling the outside of the building. He wanted to just jump from the window, but the risk of something happening to any of the three people there was far too great. It would be safer to just take the long way out.

The dog was whining the whole way down, not liking the uneasiness of the man's tense shoulder's, or the fact that his owner, who was generally a silent kid, was staying completely motionless, barely breathing even.

"It's okay, Kid. I'll get you out of here."

Kagami's words died off, knowing he didn't really help the kid feel any better.

It didn't take long for Kagami to get down from the second floor, and soon, he was laying the man down on the grass, and the tall redhead was able to get a good look at the kid.

The boy was short, pale skin, light hair that looked soft to the touch. Kagami saw his eyes were the same color as his powdery blue hair, though sweating, and covered with ashes, he looked fine. Kagami took off his excess gear and jacket, and looked over the boy once more. The kid's blue short sleeved sweatshirt was a little dark, but that's to be expected. The kid's shorts were singed a bit, but again, expected. The kid's shoes looked fine, but why he was wearing them in the first place was beyond Kagami.

"What's your name?" Kagami asked gently.

"..." the kid didn't respond, only looking into Kagami's eyes, his face void of emotion, though tears drooled down his face.

"My name is Kagami Taiga... May I know your name...?"

"..K...Kuroko... Tet...Tetsuya," the boy stuttered out, more shaken than he physically let on.

"Well, Kuroko, it's nice to meet you... Who's your friend?" the redhead inquired, gesturing to the puppy.

"N...Nigou," Kuroko responded with a small voice again.

"And is this your father?"

The boy nodded solemnly. "We're too late for him," the boy said, thicker tears forming.

Kagami didn't know what the boy meant until he felt for a pulse on the man. They had lost him.

"Kuroko... Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, coughing.

"Okay... I'm going to take you to the front, see if we can find your mother, okay?"

Kuroko shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kagami-kun... My mom isn't here."

"Then who was the woman reaching out for you?" Kagami wondered aloud.

"T...Tou-san's lady... She doesn't like... like me..."

"Wow... Okay, well, we still need to make sure you're okay. Alright?"

Kuroko nodded, and Kagami hoisted the boy up, glaring at the man on the ground before picking him up as well.

Kagami-kun?" the boy asked, looking into the man's eyes.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Will... Will I be alone now...?" the boy tentatively asked.

Kagami didn't know how to respond... What did the boy mean? Being given up for adoption? How horrible! "No," Kagami finally answered. He felt the kid relax a bit in his arm. "If you've nowhere to go... You'll come live with me. Okay?"

"Kagami-kun is very kind. Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just make sure you're okay."

Kuroko nodded, not saying another word.

* * *

Kuroko was doing just fine, nothing wrong with him at all. For that, Kagami was thankful. But now, it was time for the hard part. Assessing the damage, and getting a place for all the people to stay in. Not only that, but the cause of the fire was still unknown. This whole thing required much more than just the skills of the firefighters, but the police that had arrived weren't much of a help either.

Kagami pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.

"Who are you calling?" Kuroko asked from his feet.

"A friend of mine who'll be able to help us out here," Kagami responded, waiting for the other man to pick up. "He's a police officer, but he's better than the ones here."

Kuroko nodded, understanding.

 _"Oi, what do you want now, Kagami?"_

"Wow, you still suck at answering the phone I see. Anyway, You guys aren't too busy, are you?"

 _"We kinda are, actually... What do you need?"_

"There was an apartment fire... There's cops here, but they can't... Well, let's just say they're incapable. Can you help us out here?"

He could hear the tan man sighed, then asking, _"Which apartment building?"_

"The one right down the road from the Maji we always go to."

There was somewhat of a long pause, Kagami knew Aomine had covered his speaker, or muted himself to talk to whoever he was with. But the man's voice came back through. "We're on our way," was all he said before the line went dead.

* * *

"Aka-chin, I'm hungry, can I eat?"

"You're always hungry," Aomine groaned at the taller man. "What are you? Seven?"

"Older than you," the giant responded, face unchanging.

"Yeah, but less mature," Aomine shot back.

"Do not cause a scene. I will most definitely be associated with all of you if you do," a green haired man sighed, pushing his glasses up.

"Don't pick a fight now, Dai-chan!"

"What are you doing telling me what to do, Satsuki?"

"Minna, minna," a blond said, waving his hands, trying to stop the bubbling fight, but to no avail.

"Daiki," a voice sounded from the end of the table. "That's enough now."

Just then, a phone rang.

Aomine groaned, looking to see who it was.

"Oi, what do you want now, Kagami?" he answered it rudely.

 _"Wow, you still suck at answering the phone I see. Anyway, You guys aren't too busy, are you?"_

"We kinda are, actually," Aomine informed the man, lying smoothly. "What do you need?" he ended up asking anyway.

 _"There was an apartment fire... There's cops here, but they can't... Well, let's just say they're incapable. Can you help us out here?"_

Aomine sighed, "Which apartment building?"

He said Kise's head jolt up from resting on the table.

 _"The one right down the road from the Maji we always go to."_

Aomine muted his end of the phone, not answering Kagami right away. He looked at the others, and informed them of the situation at hand.

"We have to go!" the blond nearly shouted. "Please, Akashicchi? We have to. I have to. Please let me go."

The redhead closed his eyes, thinking. "We will go. Inform your friend, but do not let him question it."

Aomine nodded, putting the phone back to his ear, not forgetting to allow Kagami to hear him again.

"We're on our way," he informed the man on the other end, hanging up right after.

* * *

Kagami let out a sigh of his own. That was a crazy phone call. He wasn't expecting it to take that long either. But in the end, he got what he needed, so now, he could focus on what he needed to focus on; Kuroko Tetsuya.

The boy was seated on the ground, talking to his dog, who would bark occasionally, as if to answer the boy.

Kagami knelt down next to Kuroko, and asked him, "How old are you, Tetsuya?"

The boy flinched at the sound of his given name, but quickly recovered, though the action didn't go unnoticed by Kagami. "five," the boy answered, looking away for a moment.

"What do you like to do for fun?"

"I like... I like playing basketball with my cousin," Kuroko replied, this time, looking into Kagami's eyes.

"No kiddin'? I love basketball myself. I used to play it when I went to school."

Kuroko only nodded, not saying anything.

Kagami sighed again, picking up the kid, and putting him up on his shoulders.

"My friend should be here soon. Okay? We'll talk with him for a little bit, and then we'll go home. Okay?"

Kuroko nodded, holding onto Kagami's head so he didn't fall, while Kagami raised an arm to hold the boy in place as well, his jacket covering the kid up as well, as the cool air of night started setting in, despite how hot it was there just moments before.

* * *

Aomine and the others arrived shortly after the phone call with Kagami, looking around for the redhead. After realizing the man they were searching for had his back to them, his jacket up, covering his noticeable red hair.

"Oi!" Aomine shouted out, making the tall man turn around, revealing him, with a kid on his shoulders that was covered by his jacket.

Aomine continued to walk forward, but didn't know who the heck the kid was.

"Kurokocchi!" Kise shouted, running to the redhead, smiling at the kid.

Kuroko whispered something in Kagami's ear, and the man placed the kid back on the ground.

Kuroko then went to Kise, silently asking the blond to pick him up.

Kise happily obliged to the pale boy's wishes, picking the boy up with a smile. "I'm glad you're not hurt, Kurokocchi," the blond said quietly.

"What...?" Kagami started asking before he was cut off by the other redhead in the area.

"Tetsuya is Ryouta's cousin, Taiga."

The sound of his first name coming for the other man's mouth felt unnatural, and a little threatening to him.

"Tet-chan!" Momoi came running up to the blond, ogling the little boy in the man's arms. "It's been so long since I've seen you, how are you?!"

The boy responded with, "Momoi-san, I am well, thank you. Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine! Thank you!"

"Hmm... Kuro-chin, where's your dad?"

The boy went still in Kise's arms. The blond doing a bit of quick-thinking replaced the giant's question with a different one. "Ne, Kurokocchi, you wanna sleepover at my house tonight?"

Kuroko looked to Kagami, who nodded, then he turned back to Kise and answered, "If it's alright with Ki-chan..."

Kise could tell the poor kid was vulnerable. Never was the kid... Not polite, but now, it seemed as if he was being more like a child, and that's what Kise wanted right then.

"Ki-chan... Can... Can Nigou come too?"

Kise smiled. "Of course he can. Now, are you ready to go?"

The little boy nodded. "Thank you... Goodbye, Kagami-kun."

The blond walked away, the boy still in his arms, the little puppy following close behind, while also leaving the others behind.

"So, Taiga, what happened to Tetsuya's father?"

"He was dead by the time I reached their apartment. Probably inhaled too many toxins or something like that. He was virtually untouched by the flames."

Akashi nodded, thinking while he took in this information. "And what of the cause of this fire?"

"Still undetermined. Everything was burned too much... It could have been anything."

"Wow, such skill our firefighters have nowadays," the green haired man said, rolling his eyes.

"Like you could do a better job," Kagami growled back.

"Of course not. I'm still a college student."

Kagami took his turn, rolling his eyes then. Some people's children.

"I'm going to investigate. Daiki, you're with me."

Aomine looked to the shorter redhead with a questioning glance.

"My orders are absolute. Daiki, come with me now."

The officer sighed, knowing there was still no arguing with the man, and followed him off, towards what was left of the apartment complex.

Kagami watched as his friend and the other redhead walked away, ignoring the three left with him... That is, until Momoi decided to speak up.

"Kaga-chan, how are you doing?"

"Eh? Oh, I'm fine. Why?"

"Can't I be concerned for a friend?" she asked defensively. "We were all worried when Kise started freaking out... We thought maybe it was something with a girlfriend or something, but this was much worse... I mean, Tet-chan has been through enough, and now this?"

"Didn't you know he lived here?"

"We only see Kuro-chin at Kise's," the tall purple haired man said, pulling out a bag of chips.

Momoi nodded. "He's right..."

"Now Kuroko will have to find somewhere to stay; somewhere he'll be safe... Not that I care about him or anything," the green haired man added at the end, pushing his glasses up once more.

'Tsundere,' Kagami immediately thought at the sound of the man's words. He looked at the only girl there with them, and saw that she was rolling her eyes, as if to say this was a regular occurrence, and that it was getting quite old.

The redhead sighed, an unanswered question entering his mind.

"How come all of you came, and not just Aomine and Kise then?"

"Bakagami!" the pink haired woman shouted. "Of course we all came!"

"Aka-chin wanted us to," the tallest man explained, as if Kagami would know why that was logical.

"Only a fool would go against Akashi," the one Kagami dubbed as Glasses said with a sharp nod.

"Right... And who are you two again?"

"Midorima Shintaro," Glasses answered with a glare.

"Murasakibara Atsushi," the other replied with his mouth full of food.

"I see... And why does it matter what that midget wants to you?"

The two other men paled slightly, gone unnoticed by Kagami.

Someone cleared his throat from behind the redhead, who whipped around to see who it was. Kagami's eyes landed first on Aomine, but then to the shorter redhead standing there, arms crossed, and his foot tapping impatiently.

"Taiga," the man said, venom dripping from the very words. "I would refrain from insulting someone else; especially if you don't know them." After a few moments of silence then, the shortest man spoke once more. "The fire started in the apartment near the opposite of the complex from where Tetsuya lives. That was made quite obvious by the severity of the burns along the walls and floors. The family of three that lived there didn't survive. The most probable cause of the fire was a cigarette placed on a tray too close to cloth covered furniture. Fire started while Mom was preparing dinner, Dad working in office, and Child in their room, working on homework. There. I believe we are done here now. Good day to all of you..." A menacing aura surrounded the short redhead. "Do not disturb us again, Taiga; there will be terrible consequences next time. Today is forgiven because it was for Tetsuya. Do not test me."

And with that, Akashi was gone.

Aomine and the other two guys let out a breath they barely realized they were holding.

"Dude, seriously listen to him. He will kill you, and make it look like an accident."

"Like I care. Sure beats the boss getting on my hide."

"You misunderstand," Glasses... Midorima spoke. "When Aomine says he will kill you, he literally will kill you."

Kagami swallowed. "Jesus Christ... Aomine, who the hell was that?"

"Akashi Seijuro... Do not mess with him."

"Yeah, I got that... But if I'm to avoid him, I'd have to avoid you too."

"Just don't mess with him... Don't hurt the people he's close to, and you'll be fine."

"And how many people is that?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure, actually... Maybe like... nine...?"

"Eight," Midorima corrected.

"Nnnn... Kuro-chin is probably really sad," Murasakibara said, not even paying attention to what the others had been saying.

"Poor Tet-chan," Momoi agreed, sniffling at the thought. "Who will take care of him?" she asked into the air.

"Kise's got it covered."

"But for how long?!" the woman inquired, tears forming in her eyes. "What if Ki-chan's jobs get in the way, and Tet-chan is left alone!?"

"He'll stay with me," Kagami said, interrupting whatever Aomine was about to offer up to calm his fiancee down.

The others all looked at him with one look that shouted, "Are you crazy?!"

"What?" the firefighter asked. "It's not like I can't care for him."

"I wonder how Aka-chin will take that..." the tall man drawled out in question.

"Tetsuya already said he'd want to, so what's the harm in that?"

"Akashi doesn't like people touching what he's claimed," Midorima informed Kagami.

"The kid's not even related to him! How could he claim a child? Isn't that basically kidnapping?"

"Bakagami," Aomine spat. "You don't know what you're saying. Akashi has been keeping his eyes close on Tetsu... He says there's something special about the boy that we haven't discovered yet... Besides that he's the best hide and seek player ever... But that doesn't matter. Akashi has already thought about teaching him some things to help him go far in life... He's thought about... Raising him, I guess... He was coming close to taking his dad to court anyway to get custody of him; legally adopt him and stuff..."

"Why would he do that?"

"Kuro-chin's dad is evil," Murasakibara put in for the others.

"Besides," Aomine continued, "what about the dog he has? There's no way he'd part with him, and from what I remember, you're afraid of dogs."

"The kid deserves to grow up right. If I have to deal with the dog, I will..."

"Well, it's your funeral," Aomine concluded, his arm going around Momoi's shoulders.

Kagami looked at the two, gears turning in his mind.

"Why don't you guys take him?" he then suggested. "If you're so intent on scaring me out of it... You guys are going to be married anyway, what does it matter?"

Momoi's face grew bright red, she hadn't really thought about it. Having kids...

"No way is Satsuki to be trusted with Tetsu," Aomine answered. "She'll suffocate him with one hug... In other words, he won't live to see six."

"Like Ki-chan's any better," Momoi puffed her cheeks in a pout as she said it.

"Rather him die than you."

"You're all impossible," Midorima sighed. "I'm leaving before I catch any stupid from you."

He turned tail and left, Murasakibara following shortly after.

That left the three standing there, some people around them, working on the building, or figuring things out, but ultimately ignoring the group of three.

"You just take him... Pretty soon though, you might regret it. Just don't push him aside, and don't forget he's there, like an idiot that you are, Bakagami."

"Not any worse than you, Ahomine. Like I could forget about a child living in my house, eating my food, and using my money to get things he won't use."

"Tetsu isn't a huge bother. You'll see that he's easy to take care of... It's just one person you gotta look out for... So be careful, alright?"

"Are you genuinely concerned for my safety, Aomine? I'm touched."

"Pft. As if! C'mon, Satsuki, we're going home."

"If you hurt Tet-chan, I will hurt you, Kagami," Momoi informed the man, then allowing Aomine to lead her away.

The only thing left for Kagami, was to wonder why he would hurt a child in the first place.


	2. You're His (Part Time?) Guardian!

**A/N: Chapter two is away! Hope you guys like it, hope it makes sense, and please enjoy!**

It was two hours past sundown by the time Kagami got home, and flopped onto his bed. The tall man sighed into his pillow, wondering just what he got himself into. He didn't know how to take care of a stinking child! Why the heck would he offer?! And it wasn't like he was going to back out on the kid now... Kagami remembered how dejected Kuroko sounded when he asked if he'd be alone... And there was no way Kagami could allow that to happen. But how? What was he supposed to do when he went off to work? He couldn't very well leave Kuroko by himself! Why, oh, why didn't he think this through?!

Kagami looked at the clock, closing his eyes in hopes of getting some sleep before he had to do something else. At least things would start making sense soon... He prayed.

* * *

Kise brought Kuroko to his house, Nigou following closely behind. Kise made a little small talk with the boy, asking him questions like how school was going, and what his hobbies were, but it wasn't enough to fill the entire trek home. However, the silence seemed to be light, and not threatening to suffocate either, but a swelling of uneasiness grasped both Kuroko and the older man as well.

"Ne, Kurokocchi, are you hungry at all? You haven't eaten yet, right?"

The younger shook his head, nuzzling his face into the crook of Kise's neck, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep, and maybe not ever wake up. That was something Kuroko thought... He wouldn't really mind... He'd be able to see his mother again, and that was something the boy wanted more than anything... But those thoughts were interrupted when he registered Kise's heartbeat.

'Kise-kun wouldn't want me to leave,' the boy thought. 'I don't like it when Kise-kun is sad... I should stay... I'm sorry Mommy...'

Kise readjusted Kuroko so he could pull out his house key to open the door. Once the three of them were inside, Kise locked the door back up, and worked his way down the hall as Kuroko started falling asleep in his arms.

Carefully, as to not disturb the boy too much, Kise worked slowly, taking Kuroko's shirt off to replace it with a pajama top, doing this again with the child's pants. The blond nodded as he placed Kuroko onto his bed, deciding the boy should get a bath the following morning. Sadness overcame the blond as he realized that Kuroko wouldn't be able to stay with him very long, as people would come for the boy, as Kise hadn't properly adopted the small child. So with that, Kise prepared himself for bed, and climbed into bed with Kuroko, holding the boy close. Nigou also jumped onto the bed, snuggling up to the little boy on the other side, promptly falling asleep with the two.

* * *

Kise woke up to the sound of his cell phone vibrating on his nightstand. He had a house phone, but he doesn't even remember the last time he used it. Regardless, the blond sat up, and picked up, answering the stupid thing without even checking who it was.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding grumpy due to just waking up, though it probably wasn't in his best interest.

"Ryouta," the other voice came through, easily sending a sense of fear down the blond's back.

Kise swallowed thickly. "Ye-yes, Akashicchi?"

"Where are you?"

"Home," he answered quickly, glancing to his side when he felt something touching him. Kise sighed when he realized it was just his little cousin, still sound asleep.

"Home, and not at the assigned place I told everyone last week?"

"Eh?" Kise inquired dumbly. "I wasn't told!" he whined loudly, immediately quieting down when Kuroko groaned cutely, turning around before calmly going in deep sleep once more. "Akashicchi please give me a break!" the blond whispered, begging the man on the other end to reconsider any and all punishments he thought out for the late blond.

Kise closed his eyes, waiting for Akashi to throw down the hammer, and declare his punishment.

Akashi merely sighed and said, "I suppose it couldn't be helped with the events of last night... Very well... Come now, bring Tetsuya, and all will be forgiven this time around. All right?"

Kise sighed. "Thank you so much Akashicchi! Coming now!"

As soon as he ended the call, Kise fell out of bed, caught in the sheets, and landed on his face. He groaned, but got back up quickly, stripping down, and pulling himself into the shower before the water had even warmed. The blond shivered as the cold water his his back, but he continued to wash his hair and his body. Once he exited the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, and prepared a warm bath for Kuroko, then left to wake the sleeping child.

As Kise exited the bathroom, he slipped some boxers and jeans on, over his legs, making his way to the bed.

"Kurokocchi," Kise whispered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, shaking him gently. "It's time to wake up... It's already nine in the morning! You'd be late for school!"

Kuroko's eyes snapped open at the words of 'late for school.' He sat up quickly, and found himself in Kise's arms.

"I drew you a bath, are you ready to get all squeaky clean so we can go meet Akashicchi and the others?"

Kuroko nodded as Kise entered the bathroom once more, Nigou following closely behind. The blond man put Kuroko down, and helped him strip for a wash.

Once Kuroko was situated, Kise left for a moment to grab a shirt to wear, returning in less than a minute. Kuroko hadn't moved at all, enchanted by the many bubbles that surrounded him.

Kise chuckled. "Do you like bubbles, Kurokocchi?"

The boy didn't give an answer, just reaching out to the biggest group, and picking up some in his hand. The boy examined the strange things as if they were very new to him before violently clapping his hands together, sending bubbles in every direction. For a moment, the child sat there, wondering what just happened, staring at his hands that were still paused at the clap.

Kise laughed at Kuroko's antics, ruffling the boy's hair before deciding to move the bath along.

Kise grabbed a bucket from underneath the sink, and filled it with water, making Kuroko put his head back so he could get the boy's light blue hair wet with as little irritation to his eyes as possible. Everything was going smoothly until the shampoo came along.

Kise scrubbed the shampoo into Kuroko's hair with little trouble. The child sat still, making things a lot easier for the blond. However, while Kise was filling the bucket with water from the bath's faucet, soap drooled down the side and front of Kuroko's face, some of the substance going into the child's eyes.

Kuroko blinked several times before starting to cry. Kise hearing the cries, dropped the bucket, and grabbed a towel when he saw his little cousin wiping his eyes with little success.

After getting the shampoo out of Kuroko's eyes, Kise went on to refill the bucket, though this time, he kept an eye out for any more soap that might get in his eyes.

As Kise washed the shampoo out of Kuroko's hair, he looked around for the body wash. When he located the bottle, he brought it over to the tub, and had Kuroko stand up, and that's when Kise realized the full extent of Kuroko's living conditions prior to the fire. The blond stared in horror at the boy's body. Cuts covered the boy's abdomen, bruises dotted his arms and body, and scars were seen in several different places.

When Kuroko found Kise staring a bit too long, he sat back down, covering his chest with his arms.

The blond found himself tearing up a bit, deciding that they had to hurry up a bit. "Kurokocchi, let's get you all cleaned up, then we can get you dressed and we can leave."

The small child nodded, standing up once more, water splashing.

"Don't worry, we're almost done."

After the bath, Kise got some of Kuroko's clothes from the closet... A stash he had kept there for whenever the boy stayed over, and then the two were gone, Nigou walking dutifully ahead.

* * *

"Why'd you let him off the hook this time? You don't even let me off the hook when I have to do my freaking job!" Aomine complained loudly to the much shorter redhead.

"Did you not hear me, Daiki? Given the circumstances, I will let him go this time."

"What the hell?! What circumstances?!"

"Were you not paying attention last night, Moron?" Midorima spoke up before Akashi did. The mosshead pushed his glasses up as if ready to burn the off-duty officer. "Kise took Kuroko with him last night so he wouldn't have to go with that other guy."

"That other guy's name is Kagami. He's my friend, so be nice, would ya?"

"As far as I'm concerned, this Kagami character is not too keen on being kinder to us, so I do not feel inclined to try anything for him at my own expense."

Aomine rolled his eyes, looking back to Akashi, still upset that Kise got off so easy, which was something he always failed to do.

The group sat there in silence then, waiting for Kise and his cousin.

A stomach growling broke the quietness of the near-empty park.

"Ah... Akachin... I'm hungry... Can I get a snack?"

The redhead sighed. "Hurry back. Shintaro, go with him."

The green eyed man sighed, but still obeyed the shorter man.

Shortly after the two left, Kise arrived, Kuroko in his arms, and Nigou to his side.

"Ryouta," Akashi greeted, looking at the blond before turning his attention to the boy in his arms. Kuroko was wearing a sweatshirt that Akashi recognized as the one they had bought him the last time they were together like this; the one that was still too big for him, the sleeves going past his hands, the rest acting more as a dress than anything else. The boy's legs were dangling, both his tennis shoes untied.

Kise sighed, putting Kuroko down on the bench Akashi stood up from for the blond to sit. Kise tied Kuroko's shoes, picking the boy back up, and placing him on his lap as he sat down.

"It's been a long night," Kise started to explain. It had been a long night for the blond, worrying about what would end up happening to his dear cousin, only getting a few hours in dreamland. Kuroko yawned, resting his head on Kise's shoulder, eyes closing. Perhaps it wasn't just Kise who lost sleep.

Akashi leaned over, looking at Kuroko. The redhead smiled, and asked the boy, "Tetsuya, are you sleepy?"

Kuroko nodded slowly, yawning again.

Akashi chuckled, pulling the blue haired child into his arms. Kise groaned, laying his head back on the top of the bench. Kuroko's head went straight to Akashi's shoulder, his eyes beginning to close already.

"So, Kise," Aomine brought up, "when is Kagami picking up the kid?"

Kise's eyes opened, looking to the blue haired man. "I have no idea... I was just taking Kurokocchi for the night! I didn't know Kagamicchi was taking him! My poor cousin! Going to be raised by someone as stupid as Aominecchi!" the blond wailed, suddenly much more awake than before.

A tick appeared on Aomine's forehead. "As dumb as me?" he repeated. "I'll have you know that I am a lot smarter than that Bakagami," he stated proudly.

Kise sprang up to his feet, whining, "My baby cousin being raised by someone dumber than Aominecchi!? How could that be?!"

"Ryouta, quiet down," Akashi commanded the blond. "You'll wake Tetsuya."

That silenced the blond immediately. "I want to sleep too," he mumbled, falling back into the bench.

"Eh... Kuro-chin is here?" a voice asked, approaching the group. Murasakibara and Midorima returned, both carrying two grocery bags.

"What about me?" Kise called to the giant.

"...Mmmm... Who're you again?"

"So mean!"

Aomine burst out laughing, clutching his stomach from how hard he was laughing, but one glare from the much shorter redhead shut him up immediately.

"Now that you're all here, I will tell you all why we gathered here." After a pause, Akashi continued on, "Initially, I was going to tell you guys something that had nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you now... But given what happened last night, I have something more important than that." There was another moment of silence while Akashi made sure the boy in his arms was still asleep. "We all know that Tetsuya no longer has a home, and stayed with Ryouta last night after the whole ordeal with the apartment. We also know that the man on the scene watching over Tetsuya before we arrived said he would be taking him in."

"So what's the big deal? Kagami said he was going to take care of Tetsu, so let 'im."

Kise glared at Aomine, who was the one who spoke up.

"Daiki," Akashi stated with venom dripping from the name. "The reason Taiga cannot take care of Tetsuya is because of his job. That's why Ryouta cannot do the job himself. However, given that we all have jobs that require much of our time, it will be difficult to watch over him individually. However, we all have different clocks considering, therefore, I will suggest, in best interest for Tetsuya, that we each take him so many days out of the week."

"How will we decide who gets him for two days then?" Midorima questioned.

"Well, I think Satsuki and I should get him twice, given that that then gives us a day each."

"That's not fair! I want Kurokocchi twice!"

"Mmmm... I do too. Kuro-chin can eat snacks with me," the purple haired man also put in.

"Might I suggest that we change every week as to who gets Kuroko twice? Not that I want to care for him twice a week," Midorima added at the end.

'Tsundere,' was the collective thought.

"How will that affect Tet-chan?" Momoi asked, approaching the group with two bags.

"Good, we don't have to fill you in. I feel that staying with Taiga will be worse than this, I guarantee it."

"Besides, this way too, it won't affect our jobs, which means that we can still go to work without having to worry about getting a babysitter for him."

Nigou barked, scaring most of the group, who forgot the pup was there with them still.

The people there turned to where the dog was facing, and found themselves looking into the eyes of a red haired, red eyed man; one they recognized immediately. He was wearing just a t-shirt and shorts, tennis shoes on his feet, tied tightly. He was sweating as if he just had the workout of his life. On his shoulder, was a duffel bag that was filled to a point the zipped bag was bulging. He jogged the remainder of the way when he realized they were all staring at him.

"Sorry I'm late... We went into overtime on the courts. Why'd you call me here?"

Akashi cleared his throat to obtain the attention of everyone. "I called you here so you could agree with us on the living arrangements of Tetsuya."

"Why do I get the feeling I really don't have the option to choose?" Kagami asked to no one in particular.

"Because you don't," Aomine provided with an answer.

"Think about this," Midorima then stated. "We were just talking about this. If we each take turns of watching Kuroko, then our jobs won't require us to leave him with someone we really don't know."

Kagami nodded. "Well... I guess that makes sense... But... How will we do this? Every week? Every day?"

"Each of us will take care of Tetsuya one day a week, one of us, two days, switching the two days every week. We have yet to decide who will take the two days first though."

"Well.. It'd have to be his cousin, I guess, right?"

"You guess?"

"Well yeah... I mean, we all love him, don't we? The only thing different for us is that we aren't really related to him... I think it's the same, at least. Right?"

"Very good points there, Taiga... Would you like him then? For two nights this week?"

"Wa? That's not what I meant... I mean... I really would..." The taller of the two redheads sighed, nodding. "Yeah, yes. I will take him twice."

"Good. You'll take him starting tomorrow, the start of the week."

* * *

Kagami had trudged home, sighing as he stumbled through the door. He was exhausted from the basketball he had played earlier, and as he flopped onto his couch, wondering about what the heck he would do with Kuroko tomorrow, he remembered something the boy said. "Kuroko likes basketball... Maybe that's what we could do... Either way... I'll be his guardian for the next two days... I better make it count..."

And with those thoughts, he fell asleep on his couch.

* * *

Kagami ripped himself off the couch much earlier than he had remembered waking up on a day off before, but he knew why already. The redhead was excited to be with the little kid he saved for two whole days. And he already kinda knew what the kid liked to do, so it would be easy to think of something to do with the kid.

He clambered out the front door, and to the place where he was meeting Kise to pick up Kuroko.

And that's how they ended up where they were. With one warning from the blond, Kagami took Kuroko to the first basketball court they found, and handed the boy a ball.

"So... What kind of basketball do you usually play?" Kagami asked the little boy.

Kuroko his half of his face behind the basketball, not looking up at Kagami. He was a little uncomfortable at the moment, and Kagami hoped that would dwindle down, so when the little boy looked up and uttered a sentence, Kagami was not only pleasantly surprised, but he was also so happy Kuroko talked to him, even if it was one little sentence.

"I play my basketball."


	3. You're His Light!

Kagami smirked, picking up the boy. "Your basketball?" he asked rhetorically. "And what kind of basketball would that be?"

"With... With a team," Kuroko answered, putting the basketball between Kagami's face and his.

Kagami grabbed the ball, palming it expertly, taking it from the boy's grasp. "Why are you always hiding? Are you scared?"

Kuroko shook his head, denying Kagami's words, but it was quite evident that those very words were, in fact, true. Kagami stood there for a moment, Kuroko still in his arms, wondering what the heck happened to the kid to be so... Shy. Kagami figured he would be learning this as he kept caring for the little blue haired boy, but the fact that he didn't know right now bothered him. Would it be okay to ask him? The boy was quiet already... Would asking about it only make him worse?

Kagami looked down at Kuroko, seeing the boy looking at the ground. That's when the realization hit; he already asked. He hoped as Kuroko had already done, just ignore the question, and save it for a different time.

"Well... We don't really have a team to play with, now do we?"

Kuroko shook his head again, still looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Eh? Kagami's here too?" a voice asked from Kagami's right.

Kagami looked over and saw his high school team walking towards the court he was on. Occasionally, the group still got together to play a game or two, just for kicks and giggles.

"Yeah... I didn't know where else to go..."

"That's surprising. No work?"

"I have today and tomorrow off."

"That's new," the only girl in the group said with a glare.

"Oi, Hyuuga, calm your wife before she kills someone."

"That's not going to get her calm anytime soon," the black haired man with the glasses said with a heavy sigh.

"Hey, Kagami... Who's the kid? You haven't... Done anything, have you?"

"What? No, no. This is Kuroko Tetsuya... He's the kid I saved a few days ago. I'm helping his cousin take care of him, since his work is kinda like mine..."

Riko approached Kagami, and ogled over how cute the boy was.

"Junpei!" she cheered, looking to her husband. "I want one!"

Hyuuga sighed. "Riko, you will have one. You just have to wait a few more months."

The woman pouted, swiping some hair behind her ear. "Fine."

"Would you like to join us? Riko can take care of the boy while we play," Konagei tried enticing the taller man.

"Kuroko, is that okay with you?" Kagami asked the boy in his arms.

The boy finally, finally looked up, his blue eyes shining. "Can... C-can I play too...?" he asked quietly, hope in his features.

Kagami looked to the others, silently asking them if Kuroko could play as well.

One of the taller men laughed, and approached Kagami and Kuroko. "I don't see why he can't, right, Kuroko?" he asked, putting a hand on Kuroko's head to ruffle the boy's hair. However, the boy flinched greatly at the gesture, which stopped the brown haired man in his movements, immediately removing his hand.

Kuroko's face reddened as tears built up in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, turning away from the group, burying his face into Kagami's shoulder.

"Ne, Kuroko, do you want to play with us still? We have an odd number, and could use another to help us even that out."

At first, Kuroko didn't move, his shoulders shaking, but he was forced to look up when Kagami decided to put him down. "Kuroko," Kagami said, looking down into the kid's eyes, "Koganei just asked you a question. Are you going to answer him?"

Kuroko looked up to the man who asked him the question, nodding slowly. Basketball was the boy's life. There was never a day in which he would decline a good team game of the beloved sport.

Koganei smiled at Kuroko, and nodded sharply. "Yosh! Let's play!"

"All right... I call Kuroko then," the man from before said.

"Kiyoshi!" Koganei complained loudly, "I wanted Kuroko on _my_ team!"

"Well how about you be on my team then," Kiyoshi suggested easily.

Koganei sighed, nodding along. "Fine... I guess."

Kiyoshi smiled, and teams were divided. It was decided that Kagami, Kiyoshi, Koganei, Kuroko, and Mitobe would be on one side, while the other was Hyuuga, Izuki, Tsuchida, Fukuda, and Kawahara. On the side for a sub for either team, was Furihata.

With the teams decided, the game started with Kagami easily overpowering Tsuchida at jump. Kiyoshi brought the ball down court, initially going for a drive, but found himself caught when Hyuuga placed himself before him. Kiyoshi threw a quick pass to Mitobe, who was directly across from the former, wide open. Or so it seemed. Izuki ended up picking the ball, the object flying forward and into the hands of Hyuuga, who dribbled towards the other basket in hopes of scoring.

Unbeknownst to Hyuuga though, was Kuroko was there, picking the ball himself, all while leaving Hyuuga wondering what the heck just happened. Kuroko dribbled once, twice before passing the ball faster than anyone was expecting from the small body, to Kagami. Kagami took the ball, caught slightly off guard, down the court. He passed to Koganei when a double team showed up before himself. Koganei continued what Kagami had originally set out to do, shooting from just inside the free throw line. The ball bounced from the rim, but with Kiyoshi under the basket, a rebound was ensured.

Kiyoshi easily took the ball, passing it to Mitobe, who scored.

"Nice shot!" Kagami shouted loudly, cheering his team on.

"Nice pass!" Kiyoshi said, looking to Kuroko, who blushed at the praise.

Kiyoshi nodded approvingly, and the game continued.

The basketball game ended in a tie. Kuroko had to be taken out during the last bit of the first half, but the group only played for a few minutes after that. Everyone was laughing, and telling each other good job and all that other stuff. Kuroko stood in the background, a small smile gracing his lips. He felt tears prick his eyes. This, he decided, was what a real team was. He finally found what he was looking for.

"Nice job everyone!" Hyuuga exclaimed. "We've never had a game quite like that thanks to a little person... Where is Kuroko?" he suddenly ask, mid speech.

After the question was asked, everyone started looking around, searching for Kuroko.

"Kuroko?" Kiyoshi asked, his eyes landing on a small object behind Kagami. "Kuroko," Kiyoshi repeated, this time in a little tested tone that made Kuroko flinch slightly, though he didn't turn around.

Kagami approached Kuroko carefully. "Kuroko, Kiyoshi is talking to you. It's rude not to answer, don't you think?"

"G-gomen..." Kuroko stuttered, turning to the others, but didn't look up at them.

Kiyoshi smiled, and knelt down next to Kuroko, patting his blue hair. Kuroko didn't react to the gesture though, which made Kiyoshi feel better as he spoke. "You played very well. Maybe you could join us again sometime?"

At those words, Kuroko finally looked up, a spark of fire in his eyes. "Yes," he said, a smile gracing his face. "Please, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko's head whipped around to see Kagami standing there with his arms crossed, but a huge smile on his face.

Kagami gave Kuroko a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Of course!"

Kuroko's smile widened as he turned back to Kiyoshi. Kuroko nodded, and it was soon time for the group to disperse. Soon enough, Kagami and Kuroko were left on the courts with no ball.

Kagami looked around a little bit before he decided to start walking. Kuroko was following closely behind, his smile fading with each step.

"Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked almost too quietly for the man to hear.

Kagami stopped walking when he heard Kuroko speak, and his head turned to the child. Kagami hadn't noticed Kuroko was nearly three paces behind him until he stopped, but he figured out that wasn't the reason Kuroko was calling out to him.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"Kagami-kun... Will you be my light?"

Kagami tilted his head, confused. "Your... Light?" he questioned the boy.

Kuroko nodded. "My light," he repeated as if it cleared up everything.

"And what does your light do for you?" Kagami inquired, still baffled by Kuroko's logic going on. He hadn't found any logic yet.

Kuroko suddenly looked uncomfortable where he stood, and began twisting his foot in the dirt. "I'm... I'm a shadow... And a shadow needs a light, right?"

Kagami nodded, listening intently to what Kuroko had to say.

"Aomine-kun was my light... But he's too fast, and doesn't see me anymore."

Kagami patiently waited for Kuroko to continue, but when he realized the boy had no intention of saying anything else, he decided to speak up.

"Kuroko, Aomine can be a jerk sometimes. He really doesn't deserve to be your light." Kuroko looked down, a crestfallen expression taking over his face. However, Kagami wasn't done talking just yet. "That's why... I'll be the best light you've ever had."

Kuroko looked up, surprise written all over his face. But that surprise was swiftly replaced with pure joy and happiness. "Thank you!" Kuroko shouted uncharacteristically, hugging Kagami's legs.

Kagami chuckled, and checked his watch.

"My first duty as your official light, will be to feed you. What do you want for lunch?"

Kuroko looked around to see if he recognized any places around this part of town. His eyes were drawn to the perfect fast food place across the street.

"Can we eat at Maji?"

Kagami smirked. "It's my favorite place to eat," he informed Kuroko, grabbing hold of the boy's hand gently, guiding him across the street.

"Me too. I like their vanilla shakes."

"Their burgers are really good too," Kagami added as they entered the building.

The two went to the lady behind the counter, and ordered their meals, Kagami speaking on behalf of both of them. Kagami frowned at the only thing Kuroko told him, but didn't question the boy. Kagami took Kuroko to sit down somewhere as they waited for their order number to be called.

Kagami didn't try to make conversation. He was too busy watching Kuroko interact with the new environment. When Kuroko stopped looking around, and his eyes rested on something, Kagami couldn't help but follow Kuroko's gaze. It was a book that some teenager was reading; something that Kagami would never think of reading... There were just too many pages, and probably no pictures.

"Do you like reading?" Kagami blurted the question, making Kuroko flinch greatly at the suddenness of the words.

Kuroko merely nodded, and pointed to the book the teen had opened, the cover facing the two. "It's one of my favorites," Kuroko admitted.

Kagami knitted his brows in confusion. "Isn't that book a little too hard for you to be reading?"

Kuroko shook his head. "No... I'm almost six now, so I can read that book."

Kagami laughed. "Yeah? I don't think I could read that book; it looks too hard."

"Not for me," Kuroko insisted.

"What's it about?"

"If I told you, then you wouldn't read it," Kuroko said as if Kagami was stupid.

"Right, right. Silly me," Kagami relented, his ears perking as he heard their order number called.

Kuroko waited patiently at the table, smiling as Kagami handed over the white solid-ish drink to him. Kuroko drank it, content with how his day was going, and happy with his lunch.

"So, Kuroko," Kagami started, gaining the attention of said boy. "What is it a light does?"

"Well, when we play basketball, you'll be making points, but I'll pass you the ball. Okay?"

"Well, yeah, but is that it?"

Kuroko looked confused momentarily. He nodded, but he didn't look so sure.

"Is there anything else?"

"Well, you have to pass to me too."

Kagami nodded. "I see," he said, stuffing another burger into his mouth. "Hey, Kuroko," Kagami called, tossing one of his sandwiches over to the boy. "Eat one. It'll do you one good."

Kuroko eyed the food for a moment before picking it up. "Thank you," he said, taking a bite.

Kagami smiled as he finished his own food. "So, what does my little shadow want to do next?"

Kuroko smiled, opened his mouth, and said one word. "Basketball."


	4. You're His Teacher!

Kagami shook his head, letting loose a chuckle. "Basketball?" he asked, looking at Kuroko with an amused expression. "Didn't we just play basketball?"

Kuroko shrugged as he drank his shake. When he pulled the straw out of his mouth, Kuroko gave Kagami a worded answer. "I'm not good," he deadpanned.

Kagami tilted his head, an expression that said: "Are you freaking kidding me?!". But instead of making a scene by shouting that to the kid in front of him, Kagami merely sighed, stuffing another burger into his mouth. He chewed with annoyance fueling his motors. "Kuroko, have you seen yourself play?"

"Kagami-kun should know that I cannot be both on the bench watching, while also playing," Kuroko answered, looking out the window he sat next to.

Kagami had to laugh at that. It wasn't loud, more like a heavier exhale than usual. "No, I meant like in videos that your parents, or teachers take?"

"I can't play basketball at school," Kuroko replied, ignoring the parents part.

"Why not?" Kagami asked patiently.

"They don't have a team for us... I'm too young."

Kagami took in the small frame of Kuroko. He had been talking to the kid for a while, and he was just now remembering that Kuroko wasn't even in middle school yet. Kuroko spoke and acted so mature that Kagami couldn't help but forget for a moment.

"Well, for now, how about we do something else?" Kagami suggested.

"Can we go to the library?" Kuroko asked, hope in his eyes.

"Of course!" Kagami answered. Kagami never really went to the library, but if that's what Kuroko wanted to do... He would bear with it.

Upon entering the library, Kagami couldn't help but groan. He had always loathed the building only lined with books and silence, but Kuroko was a different story. The younger nearly ran to the nonfiction section, forcing Kagami to follow him. Kagami didn't complain as he watched Kuroko pull out books that looked heavier than he was.

Kagami helped Kuroko carry the books to a table, and watched Kuroko read contently. About ten pages into the first book, Kuroko's eyebrows knitted in confusion. He was whispering something under his breath, as if he were trying to pronounce something. Kagami stared at the book in Kuroko's hands, and was pleasantly surprised. The book was in English. Kagami didn't know why it prided him so much, but he felt happy Kuroko was reading it.

"Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked quietly. "How do you say this?" A pale finger pointed to a long word that Kagami barely knew how to pronounce.

Once Kagami figured it out himself, he told Kuroko. "Oto-rhino-laryng-ologist" he sounded out carefully to make sure he got it right for the boy.

Kuroko nodded, taking the book back. After another moment, Kuroko spoke up again. "Kagami-kun? What's a Oto...Oto..."

"Otorhinolaryngologist?" Kagami supplied. Kuroko nodded, and Kagami sighed. "I don't know myself. I'll look it up on my phone," Kagami said, pulling out his smartphone.

"Please don't," Kuroko said. "I'll find it."

Kagami watched Kuroko walk off towards the books again, returning with another thick book with no title or author. When Kuroko opened it, Kagami recognized it as a dictionary. Kuroko searched for the word, finding himself unsuccessful. But Kuroko wasn't going to give up yet. He got up, returned the first dictionary, and came back with another one.

"You know, Kuroko, you're really smart... I bet you could figure this out without a dictionary."

Kuroko shook his head though. "No I'm not. I can't learn anything anymore."

"Because you're so smart," Kagami said.

But Kuroko shook his head again. "Because I don't go to school," he corrected, turning the page in the dictionary.

"Is there anything specific you wanted to learn?" Kagami then asked.

"I want to learn everything," Kuroko replied.

"Everything?" Kagami questioned.

Kuroko nodded. "Math, English, history, Japanese... Everything."

Kagami nodded, thinking. "Well, I'm pretty good at English," Kagami said. "Do you want me to teach you?"

"Yes please," Kuroko answered, waiting for Kagami to start.

"Where to start..." Kagami muttered, thinking. Where would he start? "What do you already know?" Kagami ended up asking to help him figure out where to start with this.

"I know the alphabet... And a lot of words..." Kuroko answered. Great, that didn't really help Kagami much.

"Well... How about I teach you parts of speech then," Kagami decided. "I think that would be a good place to start... What about you?" After receiving a nod from Kuroko, Kagami took a paper from the side of the table, along with a pencil, and wrote a sentence in English.

"I play basketball," Kuroko read out loud, looking up to Kagami, who handed him the pencil.

"Label the sentence," Kagami told Kuroko. "What kind of sentence, the subject, verb, and anything else you can think of."

Kuroko nodded, sliding the paper closer to himself. The pencil went down, and wrote 'declaritive.' It continued on to write an 'S' above 'I' and a 'V' above 'play'.

Kagami watched Kuroko's choices, laughing a little. "It's spelled d-e-c-l-a-r-a-t-i-v-e," Kagami told Kuroko, who erased and rewrote the word. "Otherwise, you did a pretty good job. Do you know what the other word is?" Kuroko shook his head, staring at the sentence intently. "Basketball is called a direct object. You can find direct objects by answering the question 'what?' with your verb. So... I play... Play what? Basketball. Make sense?"

Kuroko nodded. "Can you give me another?"

"Of course," Kagami said, obliging to Kuroko's wishes. This time, the sentence was longer. 'I will give Mom a gift on Mother's Day.' Kagami slid the paper over to Kuroko again, and the boy started labeling. "Good," Kagami said when Kuroko gave up. " 'I' is the subject, like you wrote, 'will give' is the verb, good job, and 'gift' is the direct object. You catch on quickly. Do you know what the rest is?"

"I think on is something that starts with a 'p,' " Kuroko said, but he didn't know what the word was.

Kagami smiled. "It is," he told Kuroko. "It's called a preposition. That makes 'on Mother's Day' a prepositional phrase. 'Mother's Day' is the object of the preposition, which would mean it's a noun. There's only one word left."

" 'Mom' is a noun," Kuroko said, looking up at Kagami.

Kagami nodded. "Mom is what we call an indirect object. It answers the question: to whom or for whom. So... I will give. Give what? Gift. To whom? Mom. Make sense?"

Kuroko nodded. "It's not so hard."

"Just wait until we get into the fun stuff," Kagami said with heavy sarcasm in his voice. "Like gerunds and infinitives. Won't that be a blast," he finished as an annoyed afterthought.

Kuroko didn't hear it as such though. "I'm really excited for it," Kuroko said, though the emotion was not heard in his voice.

"Is that so?" Kagami questioned.

"Yes," Kuroko answered before asking for more.

* * *

The two stayed at that one table, Kagami patiently teaching Kuroko the fundamentals of English. To no surprise, Kagami was the one who got bored first.

"Hey, Kuroko, maybe we could do this some other time? This is getting pretty boring."  
"I'm sorry," Kuroko said, looking down. "It's because I was selfish that you had to do it."  
"No, no. It's not like that. I promise you, Kuroko, that it's just me that can't handle it; my brain is too small." Kagami laughed to reassure Kuroko.

"So he admits it unlike his idiot friend," someone spoke from behind Kagami. Kagami turned around, and was staring at a tall man with green hair and eyes, adjusting his glasses.

"Ah... Midorima-kun," Kuroko greeted, waving to the man.

"Hello, Kuroko," Midorima responded, turning to Kagami. "You barely have the mental capabilities to be a student; it's no surprise that you cannot handle being a teacher."

"So what? I was teaching him, wasn't I?" Kagami growled back.

"Anyone can do basic English, nandayo," Midorima replied, pushing his glasses up with one hand.

Kagami glared at Midorima, ready to punch the other in the face, though he held back. "He's not ready for anything harder," Kagami ended up saying.

"How would you know? You've only known Kuroko for a couple days. At most." Before Kagami could say any more, Midorima continued, "But if you think you know him so well, I won't intervene. Goodbye, Kuroko."

"Bye, bye, Midorima-kun."

Kagami continued to glare at the retreating back of Midorima.

Kuroko sighed, shaking his head. "Just who is the child?" he asked himself, scratching the side of his head.

"Ready to go?" Kagami asked Kuroko, put in a horrible mood from the encounter with Midorima.

"I suppose," Kuroko answered, closing the books, and leaving to put them away. Kagami waited at the table for Kuroko to return, once again not knowing what to do next. What was it children usually did outside of school? Kagami didn't know, and he already knew Kuroko either wouldn't know, or he just wouldn't find that entertaining; that, Kagami saw as the more probable outcome.

"Kagami-kun?" Kuroko broke Kagami's train of thought with his name. "I'm tired..." he yawned for emphasis, "can we go home now?"

Kagami nodded, standing as well, grabbing Kuroko's hand as they exited the library.

"Hey, Kuroko, one more lesson."

Kuroko looked up to Kagami, waiting for him to continue. Kagami obliged only when he realized Kuroko was looking at him from his height. Kagami cleared his throat, and continued with what he was saying. "Just remember that being smart isn't always going to get you friends... You'll probably make a lot of enemies." Okay, so it wasn't really a lesson, but Kagami got out what he needed to tell Kuroko before it was too late.

"I know," Kuroko answered. "But it doesn't matter because I don't need friends. If people don't like me... I don't see how that's my problem. I'm not studying for them, I'm doing it for myself."

Kagami didn't know how to react to Kuroko's response. Kagami predicted Kuroko wouldn't really care what others thought about him, but hearing those words come out of the boy's mouth admittedly unnerved Kagami. "Do you have any friends?" Kagami asked Kuroko finally finding his voice.

Kuroko nodded in answer, not saying anything else.

"How many?" Kagami then asked, hoping the number was higher than what he was thinking Kuroko would answer with.

Kuroko pondered this for a moment before he decided on a number. "One," was all he said. Kagami couldn't help but stop in his tracks and stare at the boy in question. "One friend?" Kagami asked as if he had heard wrong.

But Kuroko nodded, confirming that he only had the one friend. Kagami sighed. It couldn't be helped, really, but he wished for something greater for Kuroko; as if the boy was his own son. However, Kagami didn't know how to help him at that moment. But one thing Kagami was certain of: he would be a better teacher than that Midorima could ever be, and he would be the caretaker Kuroko would prefer, he was confident in that.

"Well, maybe we should send you to school so you'll make more friends," Kagami spoke absentmindedly. And Kuroko still responded, "That won't matter. They won't see me, so you don't have to send me to school."

"They'll see you, no problem. Everyone else does," Kagami argued, knowing full well he was lying.

"Kagami-kun... Did you notice me when you saved me?"

The suddenness of Kuroko's question caught Kagami off guard. Kuroko must have somehow known Kagami really didn't see him, but the dog that day. Speaking of the devil... Where was he? Kagami looked around for the little mutt, knowing he had to be around somewhere. And in reality, he was using Nigou as an excuse to not answer Kuroko.

"Kagami-kun is avoiding the question."

Kagami could feel himself blushing in embarrassment. Kuroko saw right through him. "No, I did not," he finally answered. "I probably would have let you die if I hadn't seen your dog."

"It's okay," Kuroko informed Kagami. "Things would probably be better for everyone if I had died."

"No they wouldn't. There would be a lot of people who miss you."

"Like who?"

"Kise, and those other guys who are always with Kise."

"Hmmm..." Kuroko hummed. "I suppose you're right."

"Now how about we head on home," Kagami suggested.

Kuroko nodded, grabbing Kagami's large hand.

* * *

Kagami opened the door to his apartment, gently pushing Kuroko inside. Kuroko yawned, dragging his feet as he went to the couch, curling up on one of the cushions.

"I have a bed you can sleep on. And don't you want to change?" Kagami asked the tired boy. Kuroko shook his head, closing his eyes. It wasn't that late, but Kagami would ignore Kuroko's tiredness for the time being. There was a little too much excitement for Kuroko so far, and sleep would be just the right thing for him, Kagami thought. But there was no way he was going to let Kuroko sleep on the couch. No, he went up to Kuroko, picking him up. At first, Kuroko fought slightly, not wanting to be lifted, but gave up after deeming himself too tired to care, allowing Kagami to bring him to a different room, and lay him on the bed. Kagami tucked Kuroko in, and whispered a small, "Sleep tight," before leaving the room to watch some television or something to occupy his time until he would also go to bed.

Tomorrow would hopefully be a happier day throughout, but somehow, Kagami felt like it wouldn't be any better. However, that would be left to be decided until tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe, Kagami would get Kuroko out of his shell. Somehow, he doubted it, but he knew it could be done; nothing was impossible. But boy Kagami wouldn't be prepared for how stubborn Kuroko could be.


	5. You're His Role Model!

**A/N: I feel really bad because I'm horrible at updating these, but I got an email that said I got a review to continue this story basically, which really motivated me to get going on it. I can't say who it was since it was a guest review, but either way, thank you guys for being so patient, and here is the next part. :D (This was supposed to come out a long time ago, but then schoolwork really piled up on me. I'm sorry. :( )  
**

Kagami had woken up early to make breakfast for Kuroko and himself. He wouldn't put it past himself to say he was a good cook - he was. However, Kagami didn't enjoy making the food as much as he did eating it, which was why, as he was making the food, he would steal some of the ingredients and have a little snack. Needless to say, the peppers never made it to the omelet. And despite having quite the pallet, Kagami had no idea what sort of food kids liked for breakfast. He had completed his meal, but was clueless as to what he was going to make Kuroko. He took in his choices given the ingredients he had, and weighted the pros and cons of making each food. He finally decided on French toast, as that was the one that would make the least number of dishes, as well as be the easiest to make small portions of.

Kagami flipped the warmed and made French toast onto a small plate, putting out maple syrup, and the orange juice. The redhead made his way to his bedroom where Kuroko was still sleeping soundly. However, Kagami wasn't one to let the day get away once he was up, so he wouldn't let Kuroko sleep in unless the boy desperately needed to. The only issue was, Kagami didn't know how to go about waking Kuroko.

Kagami stood next to the bed, staring down at Kuroko for a good two minutes before he decided to just try gently shaking the boy awake. It didn't take long for Kuroko to be awoken, but the boy was certainly far from complete awareness.

"Breakfast is ready, come on and eat before it gets cold."

Kuroko nodded, slipping out of bed slowly. Kagami led Kuroko to the kitchen so they could eat and get ready for their day; even if Kagami didn't have any idea as to what that would bring. As Kagami was thinking about what they should do, he felt like someone was watching him. He glanced down to find Kuroko's eyes staring into his own; it looked like Kuroko wanted to ask him something.

"Is there something wrong with the food?" Kagami asked Kuroko who shook his head.

"Kagami-kun, what do you do for a living?"

"Oh... I'm a firefighter. I thought you knew that."

"I do... But what do you _do,_ " Kuroko emphasized. "How do you prepare yourself? What does that job ask of you to do?"

"Well... Lots of things. It requires me to have finished high school, and have a fit body, and willing to risk my life whenever I enter a burning building. And there's plenty of other things that I need to know if I'm going to survive entering the building in the first place. One of the most important things is being able to make quick decisions without second-guessing myself."

"Mmmm," Kuroko hummed in thought. "Is it hard?"

Kagami shrugged, "Sometimes."

"Have you lost anyone from your team?"

"I've lost three partners. All of them died of different causes."

"Have you ever lost someone you were trying to save?"

"Not yet... CPR has made sure of that; I had to take classes so I could learn how too. Though now I know why, even if I thought they were stupid at the time."

"Did you always want to be a firefighter?"

"Honestly? No..." Kagami chuckled. "I had this stupid notion when I was younger that I would return to America and go pro in basketball... But when I finished high school, I couldn't even think about leaving Japan without a minor breakdown."

Kuroko didn't say anything for a few moments, and Kagami didn't fill in the silence with words of his own; they sat in a comfortable silence until Kuroko spoke up again.

"I want to help people too."

"Do you know how you want to go about that?" Kagami inquired, but Kuroko shook his head. "Well, you've got plenty of time to figure it out. In any case, we should get going. You're going to someone else this afternoon, right? Want to do something beforehand?"

Kuroko effectively ignored Kagami's questions, adding on to what he was saying earlier. "Do you like helping people, Kagami-kun?"

"I guess," Kagami answered dumbly.

"Do you like your job?"

"Well sure, yeah, I do."

"Why?"

Oh, that child's question. It was the question that every single little boy and girl in the world asked whenever they wanted to annoy someone. But Kagami felt Kuroko wasn't trying to bug him. No, on the contrary, Kagami felt that Kuroko was genuinely curious.

"I like the people I work with," Kagami answered. "They're nice people, and are fun to be around. However, when it comes to the things we deal with, they're serious, and great leaders. I admire them and their bravery."

"I admire Kagami-kun," Kuroko said, making Kagami stare at the boy with a dumbfound expression. "I want to help people like Kagami-kun."

"So you want to be a firefighter?"

"I'm not brave enough to be one," Kuroko answered instantly. "I'm not like Kagami-kun. I can't make myself do things I'm afraid of."

"Then how are you going to help people?"

Kuroko didn't answer, as if he were once again ignoring Kagami's words. But the truth was, the boy couldn't bring himself to say what he was thinking; Kuroko didn't know how to answer. Fortunately for Kuroko, there was a knock on Kagami's front door, making the older leave the table to see who it was.

Kuroko slid down from the chair, following Kagami to the front door. Kuroko could tell right away who it was based solely on the foot size of the person who was on the other side of Kagami.

"Mura-chan!" Kuroko said excitedly, running to the very tall male in front of Kagami. Kuroko hugged Murasakibara's legs, a smile on his face. To say Kagami was surprised would be and understatement. He couldn't believe that quiet, stoic, little Kuroko Tetsuya could project his voice so loudly, and have the brightest smile on his face when not two minutes before, he was practically mumbling into his breakfast.

"Ah... Kuro-chin," Murasakibara greeted the boy. "Are you ready to go? Aka-chin said I could watch you now."

Kuroko shook his head, taking a step back. "I don't have my things packed yet," the boy admitted, turning around to go get ready.

Kagami stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. He knew of Murasakibara, and had met him on a few occasions, but that didn't mean he knew what to say to the man should they ever be left alone. Therefore, the two men waited for Kuroko in the entryway, neither saying a work to the other. Aside from the silence, Kagami took notice of the aura coming off of Murasakibara, and saw the man glaring at him. Kagami swallowed, wondering what he had done to get the man so upset. Thankfully, Kuroko returned before Kagami could make the mistake of asking Murasakibara what his issue was.

"I have my things," Kuroko informed Murasakibara, holding out a small bag Kagami had laying on the floor in his closet. "Bye, bye, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said right before leaving with Murasakibara. Kagami blinked, wondering why Kuroko wanted to leave so quickly. However, before he could ponder on it much, a subtle noise from down the hall made Kagami sweat. A bark. Kuroko had left his puppy with Kagami. How nice of him.

* * *

"What do you want to do today, Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked Kuroko while they walked down the sidewalk.

"I..." Kuroko paused. He had absolutely no idea what he could do with Murasakibara. The purple haired man was nothing like Kagami, and therefore, the things Kuroko would normally ask of Kagami, he wouldn't inquire of Murasakibara. This brought up problems for Kuroko as he pondered on what he wanted to do. Well, he knew what he wanted to do, but it was out of Murasakibara's hands. After all, school wasn't easy to get into in the middle of the year. So Kuroko didn't bother to continue; he merely kept his gaze down, deep in thought.

"Hmmmm..." Murasakibara hummed. "I'm hungry... Kuro-chin?"

Kuroko nodded. "Me too... Can we go eat somewhere?" Kuroko asked, thankful that the subject of conversation had shifted now.

Murasakibara nodded. "Yeah... What are you hungry for?"

Kuroko shrugged, allowing Murasakibara to pick something. Whatever it was, Kuroko would be fine with; he wasn't picky like most children his age.

Murasakibara frowned, looking around the immediate area for a good place to eat. He didn't really know what it was children liked to eat, but he supposed a light snack to get them to his house would be fine, and he could worry about the main meal later on then. But something nagged at the man's gut, and he didn't like it. However, he passed it off as hunger for the time being.

"Mmmm... How about a bag of chips to get us home," Murasakibara suggested.

Kuroko nodded, not in the mood to argue.

"Kuro-chin, do you even want to be here?"

Kuroko tilted his head like a begging puppy, an unspoken question on his lips.

Murasakibara didn't get what Kuroko was trying to ask him, but he did not ignore the fact Kuroko was making an effort to connect something. "Do you want to go back to Kagami?" Murasakibara was finally able to translate. "That's what you want, right?"

Murasakibara could be such a child, and Kuroko knew it. The pout on the man's face was evidence enough of that, but Kuroko really did want to go back. He was learning so much from Kagami; he had never connected to well to anyone, much less an adult. Heck, Kuroko's father never made as big an effort Kagami did to get Kuroko to talk, or ask questions; Kuroko's father never helped him with schooling.

"Sorry, Kuro-chin. Aka-chin says Kagami needs to go to work, and that it's my turn. I want a turn too."

Kuroko nodded. He understood that much, but that didn't mean he had to deeply enjoy himself. Kuroko liked spending time with Murasakibara, he did, but he was having such a good time with Kagami. Kuroko felt like Kagami was the best dad he ever had, and felt slightly more lonely without the loud man there with him. However, Kuroko knew Murasakibara had some things to teach him too, but Kuroko was a little nervous as to what those things were. Regardless, Kuroko didn't think much about it, and followed Murasakibara into the gas station.

* * *

Kagami pulled into the parking lot of the fire station he worked at, and strolled into the building. He had been gone for a few days, and he thought it'd be good to finally get back into the field. He had missed a lot, he felt, and without Kuroko to worry about for the time being, Kagami knew he was going to get stuff done. But there was one person he needed to get through first. His boss.

"Oh, you better have a good explanation, Taiga," Kagami's boss growled through clenched teeth.

"I do, trust me, I really do."

"Well, out with it already."

"Remember that apartment fire? The one I was found behind because I was escaping with that boy?"

"Yes, yes. I know which one you're talking about. Continue; get to the point."

"Well, I was taking care of that boy for a couple of days... If you think I'm lying, you can call my friend Aomine, and he'll get you connected to Akashi Seijuro, the one who thought up this plan to take care of his friend's cousin."

Kagami noticed that once Akashi's name was brought up, his boss went stalk still. He fought back a smirk because Kagami knew he had won this round.

"Very well," Kagami's boss managed to hold onto his composure. "Go find your team and explain to them why you were gone."

"Yes sir," Kagami said with a groan. He was glad he was out of the room though, and had a little happy dance because he was the first one who managed to win against his boss for unexcused days of absence.

"Why are you so happy?" someone from another squad asked as they were passing by down the hall.

Kagami caught up to the person, a smile still on his face. "I was just in with the boss. I've been missing for a couple days, and I got into no trouble. He's letting me off the hook just like that," Kagami answered with a snap of his fingers.

"Oh yeah?" the other guy asked incredulously. "That doesn't happen often... What did you bribe him with?"

"Nothing. I just said my friend's friend, and he let me go."

"Well good for you. We can't all do that."

"Jealous?"

"Everyone is."

Kagami guffawed loudly, slapping his fellow fireman on the shoulder. "Well, we can't all be lucky."

"Speaking of getting lucky, you got a kid... Wife?"

"No, and he's not my kid. I was just watching him for a little while."

"So technically, he's partially your child now?"

Kagami opened his mouth to deny that fact, but in all reality, it was true. Kuroko was already like a son to Kagami, despite only watching him for a couple days. "I... Yeah... I guess he is... But I'll only be watching him for a few days a month, so really, he's not-"

"I knew it. The guys were trying to tell me that you would deny the kid at all costs, but I knew the boy had grown on you."

"While that may be true, I really don't think I've grown on him."

"You kidding? I bet the kid looks up to you."

"I'm a college drop out."

"Yeah, and I barely graduated high school. You're still smarter than he is."

"So?"

"He wants to learn from you."

"But my friends who are helping me take care of him are a lot smarter than me. So why me?"

"You're the one who saved him."

That one sentence really brought things into perspective for Kagami. He hadn't thought about that because everyone else was there when he had gotten Kuroko outside. The group had been there despite not going in, and since Kuroko already knew them, he figured Kuroko would be attached to them. But the mind of a child works in strange ways. Kuroko liked Kagami because Kagami was smarter than him, but Kagami had also saved Kuroko when Kuroko really thought he was going to die. Kagami was the one Kuroko looked up to because Kagami was the only one who Kuroko had seen directly save someone else. That thought alone made Kagami feel warm inside, and knew he would have to try harder if he was going to keep Kuroko's admiration.


	6. You're His Best Friend!

**A/N: Sorry I haven't been posting anything recently, but the typical excuses... School being the biggest one. I pray everyone continues to like these chapters as much as I enjoy writing them! Blessings to you all!**

After a beautiful day of doing only a few routine checks at work, Kagami was thankful he could just go home, flop onto his couch, and watch some television. However, actually getting home and sprawling himself over the couch felt wrong to Kagami. Kagami felt like there was something he was forgetting, or something, but no matter how hard he tried, Kagami couldn't place his finger over what it was he thought was missing. Of course, not remembering what in the first place would probably be why. Groaning, Kagami rolled off the couch, landing on the floor with a small thud. Just moments later, Kagami felt a cold, wet something touch his exposed ankle.

Kagami sprung up onto his feet, staring wide-eyed at the small dog that was two feet in front of him. Before he could scream though, Kagami bit his tongue. He didn't know why the dog was in his home, nor how the stupid mutt got in, but now he had to deal with it. Kagami's nose crinkled in the realization that he would have to go out and get food for the puppy, and other necessities for a dog that is not even his, nor one he would want in the first place. And so, with a loud moan of frustration, Kagami grabbed his keys and wallet, and headed for the closest store he could buy dog food.

* * *

Murasakibara stared at Kuroko from across the table. They were waiting on a cake that Murasakibara had recently put into the oven while the two finished eating dinner. The day had gone by so quickly, Murasakibara felt that it just wasn't enough time to spend with Kuroko. After all, they didn't even do anything save for getting a little snack at a small store, and then going straight home. Murasakibara was more than a little jealous that Kagami got two nights with Kuroko, while he only got one. And he had to take Kuroko to Akashi's house too. At least it wasn't Aomine... It was the small victories that mattered to Murasakibara.

They were only five minutes into dinner when Murasakibara noticed Kuroko was merely picking at his food.

"Kuro-chin needs to eat more."

Kuroko shook his head. "I can't... I'm full, Murasakibara-kun."

Murasakibara hummed in reply, wondering how he should go about this. He should have guessed Kuroko was a bird-type eater, but he didn't prepare for that properly. He sat there, half of the food on his plate gone, while he watched Kuroko's chopsticks pushing around the rice and vegetables aimlessly. Kuroko yawned, rubbing his eye gently. Even though it was only six in the evening, Kuroko was feeling unreasonably tired, and tried to portray this to the purple haired man before him, though his attempt was for nothing since Murasakibara said nothing about it.

A couple more minutes passed, with Murasakibara finishing his food and eyeing Kuroko who was still picking at the food left on his plate, when a soft ding rang in the small home.

"Oh... The cake is done..." Murasakibara stood from his place at the table to take care of the cake, also taking his empty plate with him.

"Mmmm... I wonder if Kuro-chin wants any..." Instead of asking the boy, Murasakibara decided to cut Kuroko a piece, knowing it was going to be eaten one way or another.

Murasakibara reentered the dining area, immediately taking notice of the empty chair across from his original seat. The food still sat there, the chopsticks haphazardly strewn on the table. Murasakibara might not have known much about Kuroko, but he knew the boy would never leave the table without permission first. That much, everyone could tell, was instilled into him by his father.

"Kuro-chin," Murasakibara called out to the otherwise empty house. "I cut you a slice of cake, don't you want any?"

Murasakibara listened carefully for any noises that were out of place for his home, but came up with nothing but the noisy pipes that were constantly running water. Instead, Murasakibara walked down the hall to search for Kuroko because he knew that the boy would not come out when called.

The only problem was, the more Murasakibara looked, the less he could actually see. Opening doors only to close them again, to come back to those same doors to repeat the process slowed things down, and he knew it would be impossible to find him now.

"Kuro-chin, the cake will get stale if we don't eat it. It's vanilla... Don't you like vanilla?" At this point, Murasakibara was trying to see if his voice would set Kuroko off into trying to find a hiding place further away from himself, but his plan wasn't really working as well as he'd hoped.

Sighing, Murasakibara went back to the dining area, finally noticing the quivering form underneath the table.

"Ah... Kuro-chin, I found you."

Kuroko didn't react to Murasakibara's voice, remaining the way he was.

"Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked, kneeling down next to the table to get a better view of Kuroko.

The boy's face was covered by his knees, his hands covering his ears. He was murmuring something that Murasakibara couldn't hear, though could make an educated guess as to what the words were about.

"Ne, Kuro-chin, it's me, Murasakibara Atsushi," the giant said. He may have been childish, but he wasn't a fool. "I picked you up this morning from Kagami's house, remember? Kagami took care of you for a couple nights so your cousin, Kise Ryouta could go to work. You wanted to go back to Kagami's house, but I wanted to spend some time with you too. Not to mention Aka-chin... Akashi Seijuro wouldn't be very happy if I didn't listen to him." Murasakibara continued on his ramblings until Kuroko finally looked over to him. His eyes weren't teary, despite what Murasakibara was thinking, but the kid did look awful.

"Nigou," Kuroko whimpered, sniffling. "Where's Nigou...?" he asked tentatively.

"Nigou?" Murasakibara inquired. "I didn't pick up Nigou, only you, Kuro-chin."

"Oh," Kuroko murmured, refusing to meet Murasakibara's eyes.

"Kuro-chin... Do you..." Murasakibara didn't know how he wanted to word his question. He had no idea what was wrong with Kuroko, let alone how to approach him in this unstable state of mind. Murasakibara decided that the floor underneath the table was no place Kuroko should be, so he reached out a large hand towards the boy to help him to his feet.

However, that's not the way Kuroko saw the hand. Instead of grabbing onto the hand, Kuroko flinched back and screamed. All children are capable of making louder noises than adults can; even if that child is Kuroko Tetsuya. Murasakibara's hands immediately went to his ears to mute the sound as much as possible.

Kuroko took advantage of that moment to run forward, heading towards the front door. He didn't really understand why he needed to leave. He just did. Kuroko felt unsafe for some reason. He knew Murasakibara, knew that Murasakibara would never actually hurt him, but he was still afraid. Just as Murasakibara realized what was going on, Kuroko got the front door open, and began running. There was no breath to spare in his lungs to scream as Kuroko ran.

* * *

Kagami begrudgingly walked down the street, a six pound bag of dog food hanging from under his arm when he felt something touch just the back of his legs. The feeling was so insignificant that he almost ignored it, but what Kagami could never ignore was a breathless voice try to say his name. He nearly dropped the dog food when he saw none other than Kuroko Tetsuya standing there, cheeks red, and completely out of breath.

"Kuroko!" Kagami couldn't stop himself from shouting. "What are you-" Kagami abruptly stopped talking when he noticed a lone tear slide down Kuroko's cheek. A tear that was followed by others until the boy was sobbing.

"No, nononono, hey, it's okay... What.. er... What's wrong?"

The only answer Kagami got was sniffling as Kuroko tried to stop his crying.

Kagami bit his lip as he put the bag of dog food down, kneeling down next to Kuroko. Kagami would be the first person to admit that he wasn't the best person for comfort; especially small children, but there wasn't anyone else who could do the job without causing more problems. After all, Kuroko escaped to come to Kagami, and just with that information, Kagami knew he was the only one the boy wanted at that moment... No matter how horrible he was at comfort.

People walking by stared at Kagami as he did his best to calm Kuroko down. It wasn't until someone running with their dog that Kagami realized what Kuroko needed.

"Hey, Kuroko... Let's.. Erm... Let's go back to my place for a little while. I bet..." Kagami berated himself for being unable to remember the mutt's name. "I bet your dog is getting pretty hungry..."

Finally, Kuroko looked Kagami in the eye. "N-Nigou?" he sniffled.

"Yeah," Kagami was quick to agree. "Nigou is at my house, but we have to get going there so he can eat. Okay?"

Kuroko rubbed his eyes weakly, but nodded nonetheless.

* * *

Kagami's door easily swung open, revealing a small puppy sitting loyally on the floor next to the other shoes placed by the door. Kuroko immediately went to the yapping pup, holding the tolerant mutt close. Even though Kagami did not particularly enjoy dogs, he would admit that the sight before him was endearing. However, he wasn't going to just let them continue this in the entryway.

"Hey, Kuroko, I think your dog is hungry," he informed the kid, shaking the bag of food for effect.

Kuroko nodded, and followed Kagami to the kitchen, Nigou in tow. It wasn't long before Kagami had a bowl of dog food on the floor, Nigou eating it swiftly.

"Kuroko, what were you doing outside by yourself?" Kagami inquired. Even though a lot of kids were seen walking around without their parents, for someone as young as Kuroko to be doing so by himself, no less, was concerning for Kagami to know.

Kuroko looked away, not willing to make eye contact with Kagami.

"Kuroko, look at me," Kagami commanded, though Kuroko ignored the order. He didn't. "Kuroko," Kagami repeated with a sterner tone this time. Kuroko looked up cautiously. "What happened?"

"I... Ran away," Kuroko answered reluctantly.

Even though Kagami wanted to reprimand Kuroko for his reckless actions, he merely sighed. "Why?"

"I... I don't know."  
 _Lies,_ Kagami thought immediately. "Are you sure you don't know?" he pressed.  
Kagami could see Kuroko having a mental battle with himself, which meant Kuroko was considering telling Kagami the truth. Kagami took that as a win.

"I was afraid," Kuroko finally managed to say.  
"Afraid of what?"  
Instead of giving a clear answer, Kuroko shook his head, burying his face into Nigou's fur as the puppy finished off his bowl of food.

Kagami found himself sighing again. Sometimes, he just couldn't deal with kids.  
"You know you're supposed to be staying with Murasakibara so I can work, right?"  
Kuroko nodded.  
"Then how come you've decided to come back here?"  
Kuroko shrugged.  
"Well, you should really go back to Murasakibara. I don't want Akashi to be mad at me."  
Kuroko shook his head rapidly. "I don't want to."  
"You can't stay here, Kuroko. I've got work tomorrow. If you don't want to go back to Murasakibara's, then where do you want to go?"

"I want to stay with Kagami-kun."

"You can't. I already told you that I have work tomorrow, and I can't leave you here by yourself."  
"Can I come with?"  
Kagami shook his head. "No way. It's too dangerous for a kid like yourself. Besides, my time is up for watching you."

Kagami's phone began ringing, stopping the conversation completely. Kagami stared at the number from his caller ID. It was an unknown number that he thought he recognized from somewhere. On a whim, or perhaps instinct, Kagami answered. Before he could even say a word of greeting, the voice on the other end spoke.

"Taiga."

Kagami swallowed thickly. Akashi. Bad thoughts swarmed in Kagami's mind as he started thinking about what would have happened to him if he hadn't answered.  
"Akashi, to what do I owe the honor?"

"Is Tetsuya with you?"  
"Wha? Yeah, he's here," Kagami answered, looking right at Kuroko, who was too focused on Nigou to notice.

"I'm sending someone for him."  
"And he won't be able to run back to me?"  
"Precisely the plan. Send the dog with."

Without another word, Akashi hung up, leaving Kagami standing there, staring at his phone telling him the call had been ended.

"Akashi's coming to get you," Kagami told Kuroko.  
"No he's not. He's sending someone to get me for him," Kuroko replied.  
 _Smart kid. Too bad he doesn't use that brain of his for more important things._ Kagami instantaneously berated himself for thinking such things. Just how was he expecting Kuroko to go to school if no one signed him up, or even took him to school since the fire?

"Don't worry. Soon enough, you'll be back here with me. Okay?"  
Kuroko nodded.  
"And you know that you'll have to apologize to Murasakibara?"  
Another nod.  
"Good..." Kagami didn't really know what to say after that. What else was there to say? Kuroko wasn't exactly in a talkative mood, and with whatever just happened with Murasakibara, was clearly still on the boy's mind. What was Kagami supposed to say in a situation like this? Of course, it was also easy to forget just how young Kuroko actually is considering his mental age is much older than his physical.

Fortunately for Kagami, the car to pick up Kuroko arrived not long after Akashi had called. And who else should step out but Murasakibara, the one in charge of Kuroko as of earlier that day.

Kuroko walked over to Murasakibara, resignation drawn all over his face as Nigou obediently followed his owner. No words were exchanged, only glances and nods as Kuroko climbed into the vehicle, followed by Murasakibara.

 _He'll be fine,_ Kagami thought to himself in an attempt to reassure himself. _It's not like Murasakibara was trying to hurt or scare Kuroko. He just forgets his own strength sometimes... Oh God, Kuroko's going to be killed by Murasakibara, and Murasakibara won't even realize why._

Those thoughts scared Kagami much more than he would ever like to admit, but at the same time, Kagami knew that the giant was smart enough to realize that children were much weaker than adults. _Please, just last one night with him,_ Kagami asked of Kuroko though it was neither spoken aloud, nor said to Kuroko himself. The only thing Kagami had that calmed him down slightly was the fact that Akashi, or even Kise, would murder Murasakibara if anything happened to little Kuroko.


	7. You Weren't There Part I

**A/N: I am terribly sorry. I hope everyone enjoys this. My updating is few and far between, and I apologize for that. Blessings!**

Kuroko stared out the window the entire time as he was taken back to Murasakibara's house. He knew he should apologize, but this was the last place he wanted to be at that moment, and really didn't feel like saying anything at all to the tall man seated next to him. Nigou was curled up between Murasakibara and Kuroko, as if he was trying to protect his master from harm, sensing Kuroko's distress. It didn't appear as though Murasakibara was willing to speak yet either which made Kuroko feel slightly more at ease over his silence. Though it didn't take long for the vehicle to pull up in front of Murasakibara's home to drop off the three occupants of the backseat.

Kuroko shivered standing on the driveway before the humble abode as the car drove off. He and Nigou were alone with the tall and intimidating man. In the back of his mind, Kuroko reminded himself he still needed to apologize, or else Kagami would be upset with him.

"Hmm... It's late," Murasakibara spoke, breaking the silence as he lead Kuroko and Nigou through the front door. "Are you ready for bed, Kuro-chin?"

Kuroko looked up at Murasakibara. "I am quite tired, yes," Kuroko answered, the apology still sitting on his tongue.

"Me too... Let's get some sleep, and I'll make breakfast in the morning. What do you like to eat, Kuro-chin?"

Kuroko only shrugged, not really caring about the meal since he won't eat a whole lot of it anyway. "I'm sure no matter what Murasakibara-kun makes, it'll taste really good," Kuroko answered, knowing the older would only keep pressing until he said _something._

Murasakibara hummed in response, opening a door off to the side, gesturing for Kuroko to go inside. "I'll be in the room right there, next to the bathroom, so if you have a nightmare or something, I'll be there."

Kuroko looked down at his feet, shuffling slightly as if he was nervous about asking the next question. "Can... Can Nigou sleep with me?" Kuroko inquired tentatively.

"Nigou? Sure, I don't really care either way," Murasakibara answered, herding Kuroko and Nigou into the decent sized guest bedroom.

Before Kuroko could thank Murasakibara, the door was already closed behind him and Nigou.

"I guess Murasakibara-kun really doesn't like me that much," Kuroko spoke to no one in particular, though was comforted by the fact Nigou appeared to be listening to him. "He doesn't really have a reason _to_ like me though either, huh? You like me, don't you, Nigou?" Kuroko asked his dog sadly. Nigou yapped in response. "I love you Nigou. Let's get some sleep... I still have to say sorry to Murasakibara-kun tomorrow. Kagami wouldn't ever forgive me if I didn't. Goodnight, Nigou."

Kuroko laid on the bed, his eyes closed, but still finding himself unable to fall asleep. Kuroko just didn't know what to think now.

* * *

Murasakibara yawned as he waited for his phone to buzz quietly to tell him the cookies in the over were done. He may have been a lot bigger than Kuroko and intimidating at times, but he had never meant to try to hurt Kuroko. That is why Murasakibara was making sweets. It was the only way he could think of to properly apologize to someone. It was quite late, but if he didn't finish them now, he would never be completely prepared to apologize for scaring Kuroko like he did. What Murasakibara didn't know was that Kuroko was still awake, unable to hear what he was doing, but the strong scent of chocolate chip cookies drifted through the cracks around the closed bedroom door, alerting the prone Kuroko to what was going on just outside the thin walls that prevented him from seeing what was going on.

"Nigou, I don't like it here. It's cold."

In response, Nigou nudged his nose under Kuroko's hand.

* * *

Kuroko peaked out the door of the room the following morning, having only slept for a couple hours. However, despite his tire, Kuroko wandered out, Nigou at his heels. It didn't take long for him to find Murasakibara sitting on the couch, watching the morning news. He flinched when Murasakibara spoke up.

"I wonder if the cookies are done..." Murasakibara said absentmindedly, not noticing Kuroko hiding around the corner.

Murasakibara stood slowly as he continued to watch the program still playing on the television. Kuroko backed up slightly, not wanting to speak with Murasakibara at the moment. He knew that Murasakibara wouldn't hurt him, he learned that, but that didn't mean he would talk to him so easily. Even so, the aroma from the kitchen drew Kuroko towards Murasakibara, Nigou still beside him, yapping happily.

"Good morning, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko greeted.

"Ah... Good morning, Kuro-chin. Did you sleep okay?"

Kuroko merely nodded in response, sitting down at the table. He was only sitting there for a short moment when Murasakibara placed a plate of freshly baked cookies before him. Kuroko wrinkled his nose, knowing that this was not the type of breakfast he should be eating, though, at the same time, if this was how Murasakibara ran his house, Kuroko couldn't really bring himself to complain. So, hesitantly, Kuroko picked up the first cookie, biting into it just as cautiously.

Kuroko wasn't usually one who enjoyed eating deserts (unless it was vanilla shakes, of course), so he was surprising even himself when he was reaching for a second treat. However, knowing he would get a stomach ache if he continued, Kuroko finished two cookies before deciding he was done. Murasakibara, though unsure of how little Kuroko ate, accepted it, and allowed Kuroko to go dress himself, and prepare for the day.

"I wonder what Murasakibara-kun had planned for today," Kuroko told Nigou as he got himself dressed. "It's already been a day, hasn't it? Do you know who I'll be sent to next?"

Nigou yipped in response, which Kuroko seemed to understand. "I hope so too. Kagami-kun is really nice." For a moment, Kuroko merely sat on the bed, thinking about what he would be doing. He didn't want to tell Kagami or the others that he didn't like moving around so much, but he really didn't like all the moving around. Kuroko wished he could just stay with Kagami. He wanted to learn one place, and stay there. Kuroko would never tell the others that all the motion and not staying in one place was starting to make him feel sick, and he had only gone to three places total.

"Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked from the door. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes!" Kuroko squeaked, surprised by the giant's appearance.

"We need to get going now... Aka-chin is anxious to see you."

Of all people Kuroko was being shipped off to next, he was really hoping it wouldn't be Akashi. However, when did things ever go as Kuroko wanted?

"Coming," Kuroko answered, packing up whatever he had taken out of his bag before heading to Murasakibara.

"Don't worry, Kuro-chin. Aka-chin will take good care of you. Okay?"

Kuroko nodded, allowing himself to be led outside by Murasakibara.

* * *

Kuroko didn't really pay attention to where they were heading. He just knew that he was running out of time to apologize. Not knowing where they were meeting Akashi, Kuroko decided that instead of speaking to Murasakibara as they walked, it would be best if they stopped.

"Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko asked, twiddling his thumbs.

Murasakibara hummed in response, raising an eyebrow.

"Can we take a break? My feet are starting to hurt," Kuroko lied.

"I could carry you if your feet hurt that much," Murasakibara offered.

"No!" Kuroko practically shouted, covering his face in embarrassment at his outburst. "You're just hard to keep up with. Please? Just a small break?"

Murasakibara eventually relented, deciding that Akashi can't take away his sweets if Kuroko was the one who wanted to stop.

The two sat on a bus stop bench, not intending to board the bus. Kuroko swung his legs that hung over the edge of the seat, his eyes fixated on the ground between his shoes. Nigou sat obediently on the sidewalk next to the bench, while Murasakibara munched on some chips as he waited for Kuroko to be rested enough to move again.

"Murasakibara-kun?"

Murasakibara turned his head. "Are you ready?"

Kuroko shook his head. "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away like that and worried you. I hope I didn't get you in trouble."

Murasakibara cocked his head. "I didn't mean to scare you either, Kuro-chin."

"I know... I'm sorry. Can we go now?" Kuroko was getting uncomfortable already, so he wanted to get a move on despite what he told Murasakibara just a moment ago.

Murasakibara gave no objections, so the three went on. Kuroko swallowed as they approached the place they would be meeting Akashi. He could remember things about the redhead from when he stayed with Kise a year or two ago, and all he could think was that this was going to be rules, rules, and no fun allowed. Akashi just seemed like a very busy person who couldn't be bothered with children like Kuroko. One thing in particular Kuroko recalled Akashi mentioning was how he hated disobedience. Nigou didn't listen to anyone except for Kuroko. So aside from what Kuroko knew about the man he would be with for the next twenty-four hours, it was what he still had yet to learn about Akashi that really frightened him.

As if sensing his hesitancy, Murasakibara dropped a large hand on Kuroko's head. Kuroko hadn't given Murasakibara enough credit. The man was extremely observant when he wanted to be, and he knew just how to comfort Kuroko at that moment.

"Aka-chin isn't as scary as he seems."

"Are you afraid of Akashi-kun?"

Murasakibara nodded.

Kuroko didn't get it. Akashi was both not scary, but terrifying all the same? That just didn't make sense to Kuroko at all. But at the same time, he didn't want to try to understand Murasakibara's thoughts. He just wasn't ready for that sort of mind flexing quite yet.

"Kagami-kun isn't scary."

"He has a scary face."

"But he really isn't scary," Kuroko quickly shot back.

Murasakibara hummed in response, sticking a stick of pockey into his mouth. "That so?"

Kuroko nodded. "He helped me lots."

"I know."

"He fed me. He let me keep Nigou in his home even though I'm pretty sure dogs aren't allowed where he lives. I'm also quite sure he doesn't like dogs."

"That so?"

"Yeah. I owe a lot to Kagami-kun."

Murasakibara didn't respond to that, but he really didn't need to. Kuroko was sure the man knew what he was talking about, and Kuroko also planned on repaying Kagami for what he has done.

Kuroko didn't have much time to think about how he would go around thanking Kagami because the other redhead who would be taking care of him approached Murasakibara, Nigou, and Kuroko.

"I didn't realize I would have to play a game in order to find the two of you on time, Atsushi."

Murasakibara hummed, standing to his full height. "Kuro-chin needed some help, so we stopped."

"I concluded that myself while making my way over," Akashi informed the much taller man. "I shall relieve you of your duties regarding Tetsuya for the time being now. You may return home now, Atsushi."

"Bye-bye, Kuro-chin. Have fun with Aka-chin."

Kuroko swallowed thickly, looking down to Nigou for some reassurance. The dog did little to lower Kuroko's stress though, the pup sticking his tail between his legs, letting out a soft whimper. Kuroko felt like crying himself. He remembered Akashi. He was strict, he was curt, but most of all, Akashi couldn't empathize. This was going to be a long twenty-four hours.

"Tetsuya." Akashi's voice dragged Kuroko back into the present. Under Akashi's calculating eyes, Kuroko felt so much smaller. He instinctively looked away. "Are you ill?"

Kuroko's eyes darted around looking everywhere but at Akashi's face. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so he just shook his head. Kuroko could practically feel how Akashi's eyes narrowed at his weak response. He knew Akashi wasn't about to hit him, but he couldn't help but shrink into himself.

"You didn't sleep well." It wasn't a question. "It's a long drive home. You can sleep in the car."

Kuroko didn't protest at all as he was guided to a company car. Kuroko typically loved long car rides, but before the vehicle was even in motion, the atmosphere was suffocating. He longed to be with Kagami again. The man may not have known entirely what he was doing, but at least Kagami tried his best and made Kuroko feel not only welcome, but safe. There was something about Akashi that made Kuroko feel a little frightened.

Nigou nuzzled his nose into Kuroko's hand, attempting to relax the boy a bit, but to no avail. There were only two people Kuroko wanted to be with, and neither of them were there for him.

"Hopefully this day goes by quickly," Kuroko muttered to himself, gently petting Nigou's ears.


End file.
